Invaders
by Kumori sensei
Summary: Lance didn't think there could be any better ending to an enemy invasion. Klance. Lance x Keith. I do not own Voltron.


Invaders

"Keith!" Lance yelled at the top of his lungs, running toward him at top speed and shoving him out of the way.

A laser shot through his shoulder and he let out another yell, of pain this time. Warning sirens were blaring through every system of the castle-ship and no one had been able to make it to the hangar yet, where their armour was. Lance gripped his shoulder with a curse, gripping his transformed bayard tightly between his fingers. He then hurriedly aimed through gritted teeth and fired at the intruder, who ducked out of the way and took cover.

Thankfully, it had been mandatory to carry their weapons at all times for such emergencies, otherwise things would look a lot more grim for Team Voltron. Keith looked over in alarm and cursed, wondering how in the hell Lance managed to get hurt so often. The Blue Paladin gave them cover fire as they retreated from the Galran's sights. He kept swearing under his breath from the pain but did his best to ignore it. _The worst part of this,_ He thought bitterly _, is that it's my shooting arm._

He looked up at his friend's tense face, wondering why he seemed frozen now that they weren't about to be shot in the back. He blinked several times in confusion. It looked like he didn't want to let go of Lance and he glanced over at the grip he had on his good shoulder.

"Hey, I dunno what's up with you," Lance said hurriedly, "but we gotta meet up with the others! Let's go!"

Keith clenched his jaw in a way that said he didn't really care, but the hand left his shoulder and he took point in leading them down the halls in hopes of running into the others. If they could, they'd have planned a rendezvous point but the only way to do that was over the speakers which would just announce their plan to the enemy too. They really needed to get to the hangar to get some protection and the communication system installed in their helmets online.

It was an easy guess that Shiro would be headed that way too, but there was no telling what the others would do. That was the most obvious rendezvous point, so they'd at least try to get there. Something could be blocking them though. Lance breathed carefully as he forced himself to hold his bayard at the ready, keeping an eye out for more intruders, occasionally spotting his teammate sending worried glances of his shoulder.

"What?" Lance eventually asked, too stressed to put it kindly.

"...We need to stop the bleeding, Lance." Keith said softly.

"We're being pursued." Lance protested. "We can't stop."

"I _know_ that." Keith growled. "It doesn't change the fact that we _need_ to stop the bleeding."

Lance grumbled under his breath, but then tossed his gun at Keith with a careless "here". The Red Paladin barely managed to catch it in time, suppressing the urge to chew him out due to the seriousness of the situation, and protested that he wasn't any good with guns.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, you're all hack and slash." Lance said dismissively as he pulled his green jacket from his shoulders as they ran. "Even lousy shots will give us some cover and I only need you to do it for a couple minutes—now gimme your sword."

"Wha...?" Keith was flabbergasted as his words. "And I'm _not_ a lousy shot."

"You're the one who said you weren't good with guns." Lance retorted. "Now, _pass me_ your sword!"

Keith reluctantly did so. The Blue Paladin made a mournful face as he tore through his jacket with it, turning it into strips he could use as a makeshift bandage. He recklessly tossed the bayard back to his partner when he was done with it and began to messily wrap up his shoulder. A slow and painful process that had him cursing more viciously and frequently. Once he was done, he took a slow breath and called for his own bayard back.

The mullet head was more than happy to return it and they continued on as business per usual. Lance noted that the worried looks stopped. In all honesty, he knew this shouldn't have reassured his friend. It wasn't a very good job and it was doing little to staunch the blood flow. He suspected Keith just hadn't gotten a good look at his handmanship and thought it was better than it actually was. _Oh well, better this way,_ Lance thought. His teammate being too distracted with his injury would just get him hurt.

The gunner ground his teeth together whenever he had to raise his arms up level with this shoulder to take a shot, but he did so without complaint. He was honestly glad he ran into Keith. Despite the guy not being the _biggest_ help, his weapon being a sword and all, he would have ended up worrying about him until he saw him again otherwise. At least now Lance could provide cover fire for them and things went on more smoothly.

As they got closer to the hangar, the boys shared excited and triumphant looks, their feet hitting the floor with more energy now that they were so close to their goal. It wouldn't be the end of the battle, but things would become considerably easier with their suits giving them that added bit of protection. Keith would be able to make proper use of his skills without worrying about a laser beam searing right through him.

They grinned as they saw the area free of any soldiers and bolted inside. Catching their breath, they immediately looked around to see if anyone else was there or any suits were missing. The black one was gone. Shiro had already been here. Blue eyes sparkled as they alighted on Keith victoriously and he raised his hand for a high-five. He felt exhilaration run through him when the other laughed and smacked his hand against his own.

The two hurried to put their suits on, the Red Paladin stopping his friend short of pulling it up over his shoulder. Lance gave him a perplexed expression but the other was already digging out a medical pack stored there. He rolled his eyes as if he _didn't_ need it right now and let the raven patch him up. Quickly finishing fitting himself afterwards, they pulled their helmets on and contacted Shiro.

"Lance?! Keith?!" Shiro's voice immediately came through with great relief. "So you made it to the hangar. Good. I'm in the north sector searching for the others right now. You two head to the east sector and meet up with Allura and Coran, they're headed for the control room right now."

"Roger!" Lance said.

Keith forwent replying in kind and darted out the door. With an exasperated sound, the gunner chased after him. He was just thankful there wasn't someone to shoot at his teammate as he ran headlong into battle like an idiot. While he wasn't much better himself, this guy definitely was more prone to thoughtlessly jumping into an impossible situation with his sword raised high to defeat a mob with brute force. It was enough to make even _him_ concerned.

Regardless, they took off for where Allura and Coran were, the former having spoken up to relay their exact position. As they hurried down the halls, Lance's breathing got worse. He could tell he had bled through his bandage already and he was drenched in sweat. The helmet made the sound unnoticeable so they didn't slow down, the taller Paladin not mentioning it. He soon became numb to the pain as he continued to lay out gunfire as they ran into enemy units.

Keith was pretty agile and, with his teammate to cover him, he was able to get in close and take them out without much difficulty. They were a good team. Turning down hall after hall, they eventually made it to the Alteans. As they made their way to the control room together, Shiro suddenly came on the line again.

"I've found Pidge and Hunk." He relayed quickly but there was humour in his voice. "She's been hijacking the enemy droids."

"Sweet! Way to go, Pidge!" Lance called into his comm with exuberance he shouldn't have with how tired he was.

There was a pause where they were all sure Shiro was repeating the message to Pidge, like some proud father, before he came on again.

"I'm taking them to the hangar now." Shiro said. "Stand guard at the control room when you get there. We'll come to you and figure out what to do next from there."

"Got it." Lance said.

They all made it to the control room in record time and stood near the door. Allura brought up current time footage of directly outside the room for them and they studied the few screens displayed for them attentively. The Blue Paladin leaned back against the wall casually, trying to rest without making it obvious how much his wound was affecting him. He wouldn't put the team in danger keeping it a secret but didn't plan to bring it up until it became a real issue since there wasn't much that could be done about it.

Once everyone was in their battle suits and Allura had tightened the ships defenses, the invaders were quickly squashed. Team Volton grouped together and they were sent off in teams to take care of areas where soldiers were strongly occupying and the security systems weren't as strong. They weeded out the rest with time. Gleeful cheers and chatter could be heard through the comms when Allura's voice boomed over the speakers that they had accomplished their mission.

However, Keith soon turned to Lance in confusion when he didn't join in on the happy celebration with the others and saw his body crumple as his strength left him in a rush. His vision blurred out and he was out before he ever touched the floor. He didn't see his teammate crash to the floor as he got pulled down by his weight when he tried to catch him.

The next thing he knew, he was groaning as he stumbled out of the healing pod. Hands were gripping his shoulders almost immediately after but it took his vision a bit to focus and see that it was Keith standing there. He was carefully set down on the steps before the boy exploded on him.

"Why didn't you tell me your wound got worse?!" Keith asked. "How stupid can you be! You could have been _killed_ , Lance!"

"Nah, you'd never let that happen." Lance joked with a wink.

"This isn't funny!" Keith growled. "You lost _so much_ blood. God, I..."

"Dude, I was fine until I knew the threat was gone." Lance shrugged. "I relaxed and then— _whoosh,_ all my energy went away with the tension."

"It's called _running on adrenaline_." Keith bit out. "And it's _not_ a good thing."

"That's... Never mind." Lance sighed.

He had been trying to say he hadn't _noticed_ that but it was clear to him that Keith was too upset for him to get it. So he settled for apologizing instead. Which didn't end up making the situation better, as the Red Paladin glared at him and retorted he didn't want any half-assed sorry from him before storming off. He frowned at his back. It _hadn't_ been, he was sincerely sorry for worrying his friend like that.

"Don't mind him." Shiro said and Lance jumped because _when did he get there?_ "Keith is just worried about you. He sat next to your pod the entire time you were in there."

"Eh? Seriously? He did that?" Lance's eyes widened rapidly in shock.

Shiro smiled kindly and nodded, sitting down next to him.

"How are you feeling?" Shiro asked.

"A little groggy... and a bit cold." Lance said honestly. "Some food goo sounds good too, actually."

Shiro laughed.

"Let's get you some then." And they migrated into the dining room, where everyone but Keith showed up one by one after hearing Lance had gotten out.

Hunk engulfed him in one of his bear hugs as soon as he saw him and the Blue Paladin laughed carefreely as he was picked up and spun around. Everyone was smiling and expressed their happiness that he was alright. The Yellow Paladin hurried into the kitchen to make him, and everyone else since they were there, something to eat after smothering him for the first five minutes.

Everyone was seated at the tables when he returned, laughing and talking with each other. At one point, someone questioned where Keith was. Both Shiro and Lance shared a look of mild concern but said he went off to rest once he came out. The others bought it and they peacefully had a late night snack together. Afterwards, the ex-cargo pilot left with the excuse of getting some rest—and he was tired—but was actually going off to search for his temperamental friend.

Shiro shot him a knowing look but he noticed the approving glint in them. He almost wanted to laugh but that would be weird to everyone so he didn't. The others bid him good night and their leader didn't out him for what he was really about to do. Outside the dining hall, he paused in consideration of where to head first. Given his foul mood, he was betting he went to beat his frustrations out on the training droid. His bet was right.

He leaned against the doorframe and watched Keith lash out at the training robot in a berserker rage. He didn't know if he should be impressed or not. Despite the lack of his usual form, he was mercilessly beating the bot on one of the higher settings the Red Paladin liked to train on. He decided that being impressed and exasperated were the right emotions for the scene displayed before him. When he soon beat the simulator, Lance let out an impressed whistle to reveal his presence.

He smirked when the boy jumped in surprise and narrowly avoided the blow of the robot when it leveled up and came at him again. Keith quickly called out to cancel the training session and turned to his teammate with a frown. The unasked question "what are you doing here" was written all over his face. Lance came fully into the room now, careless smile on place as he did.

"Dude, how do you have the energy to train after that invasion when you haven't even gotten any sleep?" Lance asked.

"What makes you think I haven't rested?" Keith retorted in confusion.

"Shiro said so." Lance shrugged.

Keith scowled and looked away, surprising Lance. He hadn't expected his friend to have planned on hiding that.

"So what do you want?" Keith eventually bit out.

"Honestly? I just wanted to make sure you didn't kill yourself out here," Lance said nonchalantly, "just because you're pissed I didn't mention my injury worsening to you."

The raven stood frozen for a while, unsure how he felt about what Lance just said. On one hand, he was expressing concern for him. On the other, he was being an ass about it.

"Whatever. I'm fine." Keith said irritably.

"Oh _come on_ man, what good was mentioning it gonna do?" Lance threw his hands into the air in defeat. "It's not like we could sit around and take a breather or I couldn't be involved!"

"You could have at least hung back with Allura and Coran instead of running around making it worse that much faster!" Keith snapped.

"If you were so worried about it," Lance yelled right back, "why not say anything?!"

"I _thought_ if it was that bad you would say something!" Keith growled. "Apparently not!"

"The hell man! It wasn't even that bad when we were with them!" Lance argued. "We were running around the castle for hours afterwards!"

"Then you should have headed back!" Keith screamed, louder than before.

The taller Paladin was stunned into silence. They fought all the time, yelling at each other, but his friend has _never_ yelled so loudly before. He had never been this _upset_ before. He ran a hand through his hair and shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably. It was quiet for a while before he spoke up again.

"I don't get it, dude." Lance sighed. "This happens all the time. Is this really what's bothering you? You gotta know I'd never put you guys in danger keeping my trap shut like that."

Keith tensed at the words, looking ready to jump into another argument, but deflated at the end of it. He dropped his gaze and clenched his fists. Blue eyes bore into him steadily and the Paladin's steps slowly eliminated the space between them until they were only a couple feet apart from each other.

"Keith, why'd you wait around for me to come out?" Lance asked. "My life wasn't in danger or anything, you couldn't have been _that_ worried once I was inside."

His jaw clenched and unclenched as he stayed quiet. The brunette could have pestered him more for an answer, but he chose to remain silent and wait this time. As he stood there, patiently waiting without words, it managed to wear the shorter Paladin down.

"I... You... You wouldn't have gotten hurt if I'd just—" Keith abruptly growled, clearly not wanting to talk about this.

"Whoa... whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold up, man!" Lance exclaimed. "You can't seriously be blaming yourself for this! Dude, we all get caught off guard sometimes. The whole point of a team is to _look out for each other_! Don't beat yourself up over this, I'm sure you'll get the chance to do the same for me in the future."

"Well, obviously, with your clumsy ass." Keith retorted, but the words left his shoulders sagging with relief.

"Hey! That was uncalled for!" Lance protested. "And I'm not that bad!"

Keith snorted and made to leave but came to a sudden stop at the doors. Deep blue eyes regarded him curiously, arms crossed with a slight pout from their banter. The Red Paladin glanced back at him and then away again. He shifted awkwardly from foot to foot and Lance was about to question him when he spoke up.

"I'm..." Keith opened and closed his mouth several times trying to find the words.

"Dude, relax, I don't need any mushy 'thank yous' or whatever." Lance said before he could continue. "From you, it'd just be weird anyway."

"What the hell, man?" Keith growled. "I was trying to be nice!"

"I know, that's why it's _weird_." Lance smirked as he retorted.

The raven came storming back over to him, ready for a fight. It made the taller Paladin want to laugh. He made sure to stand at his full height, looking down at him with a smirk, because he knew how it only pissed him off more when he was angry.

Keith grabbed his shirt front as he yelled more but it only served to humour the other further. Back to being in a foul mood with the Blue Paladin after this, he stomped off in a rage. It had him laughing until he realized that he'd just undone everything he came here for in the first place. He stood there quietly in the middle of the training room and frowned at his own screw up.

Normally, he wouldn't bother going after the Red Paladin over something like this. He wasn't even sure what his motivation was. The disappointment on Shiro's face if he came across Keith like this? The fact that his shorter friend had been worried about him up until now? His drowsiness? Either way, he made to find the temperamental guy. Though he had no idea what he would say upon finding him.

He wandered around the castle for a bit, somewhat annoyed because the odds were the raven had went to bed instead of hiding in some other room. He couldn't just waltz into the other's room though so he was walking around in a blind search for him. _With that anger, there's no way he could sleep anyway,_ Lance reasoned as he continued trekking through the place. Sooner or later he would come out if he returned there. Or so he hoped.

A yawn escaped him a while later, hands shoved deep into his pockets and body slumped in exhaustion. Things would be normal tomorrow after they slept, he didn't understand why he was still at this. He thought about how his friend had tried to thank him earlier and rubbed at his eyes with a sigh. _Yeah, okay, I guess I shouldn't have shot him down like that_ , Lance mused, _I guess assuming he'd know I got the message and all that wasn't the way to go. Lowkey saving him embarrassment really doesn't work well with him, huh._

So, he felt bad. That was his conclusion. He'd felt bad before and hadn't done anything about it though. Just let things get back to usual after some time away from each other. After some more sluggish thought, he decided it was a mix of his being an ass and everything that happened since the attack. Also, maybe being this tired was messing with his brain. Either way, he ended up groaning when he headed back to his room several hours later with no success and entirely unable to keep his eyes open any longer. At this point, he was probably the only person up.

That turned out to be wrong, as Keith suddenly came out of his room as he was about to walk past it. He jerked to a stop just short of hitting him.

"Lance? Why are you still up?" Keith looked at him in surprise.

Lance didn't know if he wanted to deal with this anymore. He didn't even know what he would say and he was just so tired.

"Looking for you." The words came out unbidden and Lance cursed his tired brain for its honesty.

"What? Why?" Keith's eyes widened further.

He mentally groaned pathetically. He knew it was coming. It was the only reasonable response to Lance's words but he had hoped that miraculously they would not have been. He wanted to sleep, _dammit_ , but he'd managed to fuck that up. Royally. He scrubbed at his eyes desperately and tried to come up with the right words.

"Ugh. Alright, I came to-" Lance cut himself off with a yawn,"-to say sorry, I guess, for being an ass. Earlier."

"...What?" Keith didn't look like the words were computing.

Lance scowled, getting annoyed with his apparent disbelief in his ability to have remorse for all of two seconds before the energy to feel that way dissipated suddenly as his exhaustion smothered it out.

"Right. So that's all I had to say." Lance said, ignoring Keith's response. "I'm going to bed now. Night."

"Wait." A hand gripped his wrist firmly after a mere two steps.

Lance could have cried. He really could have. He just wanted to crash on his bed. That was literally all he wanted right now. Instead, he was looking at Keith with an expression that was both haggard and hassled. The shorter Paladin didn't seem to notice as he stared at him with an odd intensity for the situation.

"You never apologize. Why now?" Keith asked and Lance could not understand why that was so important to the guy for the life of him.

"Why does it matter?" Lance complained. "I said I'm sorry and I meant it. Isn't that enough?"

Despite being tired enough to find the immediate floor appealing, he still noticed how the grip tightened on his wrist and the other Paladin's face hardened. It was gone when he blinked. Keith was looking away and his hand had loosened to the point where he could easily pull away if he wanted to. And it was tempting, given how badly he craved sleep right now, but something about the boy's reaction kept him in place.

"Ugh. Fine. Whatever." Lance muttered, as if he didn't have a choice but to tell him. "On top of being tired enough to be delirious, I get you've been really worried about me for the past while. Even _I'm_ not that big of a jerk, okay."

Keith jerked and he shifted from foot to foot. He was only alerted to it from the twitching of the fingers around his wrist. He blinked a few times in quick succession to fight off sleep, idly wondering if he could leave yet.

"I... Sorry, go to sleep." Keith muttered and hurriedly drew his hand back.

And Lance didn't move. The call to his bed had not faded. His friend's words had reached him. But he was acting weird. The guy wasn't that quick to apologize. He was honestly pretty amazed he was conscious enough to even notice right now. Either way, he had and he somehow couldn't just ignore it. His stubbornness with Keith today was making him want to hit himself. Repeatedly.

"Dude, you're being all weird again." Lance said, trying to put energy he didn't have into his words. "Thank yous and now apologizes? What's up with you?"

Keith flushed instantly.

"What? Nothing!" Keith snapped.

"Uh-huh, sure, when's the last time you said sorry to me then?" Lance retorted.

"I... Who cares?!" Keith glared.

"The universe does, Keith," Lance gave a lopsided smile, "the whole vast universe."

Keith rolled his eyes here, the other's words actually having a calming effect on him. He'd never noticed that before. He idly wondered if his friend had either.

"Whatever, you're obviously delusional right now and need sleep." Keith said. "So go to bed before you embarrass yourself."

"Buddy, I needed sleep several hours ago and that didn't stop you from keeping me here over something as small as _why_ I apologized to you." Lance smirked at the easy counter. "So why don't'cha just tell me what's up?"

Keith glared at him but remained silent, not being able to say anything to that. The smirk curving his lips widened at that and he found some of his tiredness sinking away. A little banter with his pal did a lot for his exhausted mind and body. It was a bit absurd, really.

"Cooome ooon, it can't be that bad!" Lance pestered.

"I... Shit, shut up!" Keith snapped.

"No way! I'm not leaving until you tell me!" Lance shot back with a grin plastered across his face.

"Fuck you." Keith growled.

"You wish." Lance smirked with a wink.

And, suddenly, Keith blushed as the meaning hit him. The brunette blinked slowly at him, having not expected that reaction. It would have been one thing if an immediate retort came with it, but his abrupt inability to speak was telling.

"Yo—Don't tell me... You—You like me?" Lance asked as if he couldn't even believe the words were coming out of his mouth.

"Sh-Shut up! So what if I do?!" Keith bit back weakly.

"Wha—No way! I-I can't believe it!" Lance stared uncomprehendingly, not meaning to reject him but that was the way the Red Paladin took it.

"Fuck off! Just leave me alone!" Keith snapped before retreating into the safety of his room.

The doors sliding shut and cutting off the other from view broke him out of his funk. With a string of curses under his breath, he hurried up to his door and starting knocking on it incessantly. He would have banged and screamed, but knew it would end poorly for him when not too long after it woke the others up. It was hard to suppress, but he somehow managed. Not that Keith bothered to open the door for him.

"Keith? C'mon, open up!" Lance called quietly. "I didn't—Arrgh. It just surprised me, okay? I'm sorry. I'm not... I'm not rej—Ah!"

Lance gave a little yelp when the doors suddenly opened and he fell through, having been leaning against it. A surprised sound came from the other side when he came crashing into him. They both went crashing to the floor. The Blue Paladin pushed himself up onto his forearms and looked down at his teammate. The raven's face flushed from how close they were.

"What are you doing? Get off!" Keith scowled.

"Ah, ye—Wait, no, do you really want me to?" Lance's mouth stretched into a grin.

Keith's eyes widened and his face got even redder. Lance was loving it. However, the shorter boy growled and shoved him off of him, sending him into a giggle fit. His blushing friend was glaring at him, not appreciating it one bit.

"So? What did you want?" Keith's face suddenly blanked as he leaned back on his hands and looked the other way.

It became quiet as Lance calmed down with the serious question. He couldn't help staring incredulously at the boy though. He thought it was pretty clear what he wanted. Enough for the other not to be so nervous about that question, at least.

"Wha...? Dude. Were you even listening to what I was saying?" Lance asked.

"I could barely hear you." Keith scowled.

"Really? Then why'd you open up?" Lance was surprised.

"You wouldn't have left otherwise." Keith shrugged.

"...And you didn't just ignore me?" Lance frowned.

"Does this matter?" Keith scowled, tensing up suddenly. "Will you just answer my question!"

"Uh... Right. Um, I was saying I was surprised and all..." Lance stopped abruptly and looked at Keith. "Look, I'm not really good with this words thing so I..."

Lance trailed off with his friend giving him this confused look. _Fuck it,_ He thought and lunged forward. Clumsily pressing his lips to the other boy's, he felt him stiffen under him. Instead of pulling back, he reached a hand up to his cheek and gently rubbed his thumb across it, trying to project that this was real. That it wasn't some joke in poor taste. To encourage the Paladin to respond.

It took a second, but the Red Paladin relaxed and carefully pressed back. The kiss was slow and sweet. While Lance had experience kissing, he could tell from the other's hesitance he didn't. He slowly sank his fingers into the boy's hair, noting how soft it was, trying to get him more comfortable. He smiled a little when Keith sat up more and leaned towards him, his hands lightly grabbing his neck.

They shared a few more tender kisses before the Red Paladin was dropping his head onto the taller boy's shoulder, one hand falling away to make room and support him. Lance glanced down at him, curious about how quiet he was being, and loosely wrapped his arms around him. He glanced to the open door and froze, suddenly turning red himself.

"Uh, um... When did you get here?" Lance asked.

"...Just in time to see you two kiss." Shiro said awkwardly.

Keith had thrown himself off Lance as soon as he heard the other's voice, looking mortified.

"I heard a crash and—" Shiro cut off his embarrassed ramble. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... walk in on you two."

"And you didn't say anything?!" Lance exclaimed.

"I—Sorry." Shiro repeated.

Lance groaned into his hands, not knowing what to say, and Keith himself was too embarrassed to speak up. Shiro looked between the two and then mumbled something before retreating to his room. They sat there quietly for a while before Keith looked over at his new boyfriend. The Blue Paladin had calmed down by then and was just laying on his back, staring at the ceiling.

"I don't get it, if you liked me why didn't you show it?" Keith asked. "You've flirted with every girl we came by."

"Huh? Oh, well... Me being a flirtatious ass and being _into_ someone are two different things." Lance tried to explain, looking over at him.

Keith gave him a confused look.

"Look, this isn't going to make sense to you, I can tell, but basically," Lance said, "I make a total ass of myself flirting with people I'm mildly attracted to and, um, not when I actually really like someone."

"So, what, you fought with me all the time because you liked me?" Keith said. "Isn't that a bit preschool of you?"

"No! God, that wasn't what I was saying!" Lance glared, jerking into a sitting position. "Fighting with you just happens, it's got nothing to do with liking you! It's more like, I don't be super obvious about it because there's _feelings_ behind it and I don't wanna fuck up a good relationship and—ugh, geez, it's not like you were any better than me with this, why do I have to explain it?!"

"Because you _actually_ flirt with people!" Keith retorted.

"I just said I don't flirt with people I really care about!" Lance shot back.

"What about Allura?" Keith argued.

"That—I haven't flirted with her since the first couple months of being here!" Lance said in disbelief.

Keith did not look convinced of anything.

"Seriously? God, Keith, you're impossible." Lance sighed. "I used shitty as fuck pick up lines with everyone you've ever seen me flirt with. No one in their right mind would go for that. And sure, they're hot or whatever so if it works, great, but I don't really care either way. This—" Here Lance waves between the two of them—"is different. I... I actually _care_ about this. About _us_. I didn't want to throw my feelings out there, like it was on the same level as the random chicks I've hit on. Okay? Get it? Can I stop talking now?"

Lance's face was a deep shade of red, but to be fair, Keith's wasn't much better. The Red Paladin nodded his head mutely, incapable of words. They sat frozen for a while, but then the raven crawled over to his boyfriend and placed a heated kiss on the other's lips. It surprised Lance and his eyes widened, but he quickly closed them as he responded to it.

Keith was pressing into him and he fell onto his back, his arms worming around his partner's back. He pulled until the Red Paladin dropped all his weight on him. He grinned a little, noticing how into it his boyfriend was. The nervousness had all but vanished. The kissing was a little messy but it felt good. When the shorter boy pulled away looking dazed, his grin took over his face.

"We better stop before someone else catches us." Lance said reluctantly.

Brown orbs blinked down at him then turned towards his doorway. He stared at it for a minute or two, before getting up and slapping his hand against the close panel. Keith locked it before turning back to the guy sitting on the floor of his dimly lit room. Lance was laughing heartily at his actions, eyes dancing as they watched him. Something like that should have annoyed him, so the brunette was understandably surprised when the other only strode back over to him quickly.

Not that he minded. Quite the opposite happened when Keith deposited himself into his lap, hands immediately grabbing the back of his neck, and captured his lips in a kiss. His laughter died down quickly and washed away with his boyfriend's kisses. As Lance blissfully made out with the temperamental guy, the stray thought that this was a _great_ end to an enemy invasion flitted through his mind. He certainly wasn't tired anymore either.


End file.
